Oct. 22, 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Brink of War

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Oct. 22, 1962: Cuban Missile Crisis, and the Brink of War

A U.S. intelligence photograph of Nuclear Warhead Bunker Site 1 under construction in San Cristobal, Cuba. This shot was taken during the Cuban Missile Crisis in 1962. *Image: Corbis * 1962: President Kennedy goes on television and informs the world that the Soviet Union has placed missile installations in Cuba, only 90 miles from the American mainland.

If the world, and especially the American public, was shocked by the revelation, the Kennedy administration was not. The president had known about the installations since at least Oct. 1 and received final confirmation on Oct. 16, when a U.S. U-2 spy plane returned high-altitude photographs clearly showing the presence of at least 15 Soviet surface-to-air missile launchers.

There were also unconfirmed reports of SS-3 and SS-4 missiles on an airfield outside of Havana, which, if true, put most of the eastern seaboard and southern United States within range of Soviet nuclear warheads. Russian military personnel and technicians were also known to be on the island.

So there was the real threat of nuclear holocaust. But there was also the audacity of the Russian move, which completely disregarded the Monroe Doctrine with its political justification for American hegemony in the Western Hemisphere.

The Russian perspective was somewhat different. With the Bay of Pigs invasion still fresh in his mind, Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev feared another U.S. attempt to overthrow his ally Fidel Castro, so the missiles were meant as much as a deterrent as a threat. The Russians were also unhappy about the United States putting their missiles right next door in Turkey, so this represented a quid pro quo.

Once the cat was out of the bag, Kennedy reacted swiftly. His image has been softened over time by the Camelot mythology but make no mistake – Kennedy was no dove. By the time he went on TV with the news, he was resolved to go to the mat with Khrushchev.

Washington informed the Kremlin that any attack launched against the United States from Cuban soil would be regarded as an attack by the Soviet Union itself, with the resulting consequences. Kennedy also ordered a naval blockade of Cuba, posing a direct challenge to the Soviet freighters still in the process of delivering their military hardware.

The Cold War was suddenly getting very hot. On Oct. 26, Kennedy raised military readiness to DEFCON 2, one step removed from a total war footing. It is generally accepted that the Cuban missile crisis was the closest the world has come (so far) to an all-out nuclear war.

In the end, Khrushchev blinked first. Realizing he'd overstepped himself, he sent a letter to Kennedy offering to withdraw the missiles in exchange for American guarantees not to invade Cuba. A second letter – saying that the Russians would pull their missiles from Cuba if the United States removed its missiles from Turkey – was ignored by Washington. In the end, Khrushchev's first proposal was accepted and the Russians pulled out.